Visualizing Cyber Security: Usable Workspaces

ABSTRACT:

The goal of cyber security visualization is to help analysts in- crease the safety and soundness of our digital infrastructures by providing effective tools and workspaces. Visualization research- ers must make visual tools more usable and compelling than the text-based tools that currently dominate cyber analysts’ tool chests. A cyber analytics work environment should enable multi- ple, simultaneous investigations and information foraging, as well as provide a solution space for organizing data. We describe our study of cyber-security professionals and visualizations in a large, high-resolution display work environment and the analytic tasks this environment can support. We articulate a set of design princi- ples for usable cyber analytic workspaces that our studies have brought to light. Finally, we present prototypes designed to meet our guidelines and a usability evaluation of the environment.